Nintendo Switch will be a failure
As someone born in the 1980s, Nintendo was a huge part of my life. I owned every one of its home consoles from the NES to the Wii. Yes, I even bought the Virtual Boy, which I still have. Unfortunately, I sat out the Wii U due to poor design and a lack of quality games. Apparently, I was not alone in not embracing that console, as it is largely considered a flop.
The company's latest console, however, got me very excited. The Nintendo Switch doubles as both a home and portable console, making it more useful. Based on the company's presentation, it looked very fun. I pre-ordered it immediately, for fear of it selling out. This was a good idea, apparently, as pre-orders are no longer available at major retailers. Here's the problem -- I am considering canceling my order, as it is looking to be a failure.
Android Nougat on Samsung Galaxy S7: A big step in the right direction
Samsung started the Android Nougat roll-out for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge last week, but only members of the Galaxy Beta Program could get it right away. That changes today, as Samsung is finally making the much-awaited update available to more users, starting in China and UK.
After installing the hefty Android Nougat update on my Galaxy S7 edge, it became immediately clear that Samsung has put in a lot of effort to deliver a much more user-friendly experience. Its skin is much improved over what we had before on Android Marshmallow, packing lots of nice changes, both visual and under the hood. It is not perfect, but there is lots more to like now.
Businesses missing out by not engaging customers with SMS
Consumers want to communicate with businesses using SMS according to a new study, but companies are failing to grasp the opportunity this offers.
The research from mobile engagement specialist OpenMarket unveils a missed opportunity for financial service providers, retailers and hospitality companies that don't make use of SMS-powered chatbots to more effectively engage with customers.
What does 2017 have in store for the bot?
A lot can happen in 12 months. Last year, bots exploded into the mainstream, and adoption was rapid. For example, over $1.5 billion was invested in AI startups; Microsoft has over 35,000 bot developers on its platform; The Economist even asked if bots are the new apps.
As with any technology that grows so quickly in such a short amount of time, sometimes we need to take a step back. Last year, we saw bots enter the home through the likes of Amazon Echo’s Alexa and Google Assistant, and this paved the way for more bots to be introduced to our everyday lives. So what happens next?
UK health trusts hit by ransomware attacks
The UK's National Health Service is being targeted by ransomware according to a new study which shows that 30 percent of NHS Trusts have suffered an attack, potentially placing patient data and lives at risk.
The findings come from a Freedom of Information Act study conducted by endpoint security company SentinelOne. It submitted FOI requests to 129 NHS Trusts, of which 94 responded.
Apple hikes UK App Store prices by 25 percent post-Brexit
The financial turbulence that followed the UK's vote to leave the European Union has seen the value of the pound tumbling. With the pound and the dollar almost reaching parity, Apple has again been forced to increase prices.
While the US and UK currencies may not quite have reached parity, the price of apps in the two regions will very soon do just that. Apps that cost $0.99 in the US would have cost £0.79 in the UK pre-Brexit -- now this will jump to £0.99. Information about the price hike came in an email to developers, and it will take effect over the next seven days.
Screeny is a versatile desktop capture tool
Screeny is a comprehensive free-for-personal-use screen capture tool for Windows. It’s a competitive market and there are a host of free screenshot and desktop recorders around, but Screeny manages to stand out anyway with its sheer weight of features.
The program isn’t just about full-screen and active window captures, for instance. It can also grab rectangular, circle, region or freehand selections, scrolling areas, DOS windows, menu structures, Windows objects (regions, windows, controls) and more.
Latest macOS Sierra beta suggests lowering screen brightness to increase battery life
Apple is eager for MacBook Pro users to squeeze the best possible battery life out of their machines, so it's understandable that the company was taken aback by Consumer Reports' original, and disappointing battery life results.
With macOS, Apple helps users to be proactive in boosting battery performance by warning when a particular app is using a lot of power -- if it is not entirely necessary, users will hopefully feel compelled to kill it. In the latest beta version of macOS Sierra, screen brightness is also taken into account, and users are advised that lowering this setting will save power.
Few UK retailers confident about their customer experience
Retailers are seriously lacking confidence when it comes to delivering a seamless, connected experience across channels. This is according to a new report by SAP and PwC. The report, based on a poll of 300 retailers and more than 2,000 consumers, says less than a fifth (17 percent) of retailers are confident in their capabilities.
More than six in ten agree siloed business units are hurting their efforts, and a third say they are having trouble implementing the "single view of the customer". Just eight percent have successfully done this, the report claims.
Anonymous threatens Donald Trump with leaks about ties to mafia and child trafficking
Donald Trump has not yet taken up office, but he has already managed to whip up tidal waves of opposition not only in the US, but around the world. Among the president-elect's opponents is Anonymous, the hacktivist collective.
The group took to Twitter -- Trump's favorite medium -- to issue a pre-inauguration warning: "This isn't the 80's any longer, information doesn't vanish, it is all out there. You are going to regret the next 4 years". The tirade came as Trump lashed out at reports about criticism from outgoing CIA Chief, John Brennan; Anonymous responded by threatening the billionaire with damaging leaks.
Anonymous launches a new operation -- to stop seagull genocide!
Anonymous has launched many different operations over the years, and declared war on a diverse number of foes, including The Church of Scientology, Islamic State, the Ku Klux Klan, and Donald Trump.
While the hacktivist collective will occasionally say crazy things -- it’s called for a new American revolution, and for mankind to conquer space -- it does often fight for good causes. Its latest operation is strictly for the birds. No, seriously.
Amazon introduces new job training program in UK
Amazon has steadily been expanding the scope of its cloud storage business AWS beyond hosting websites and apps for businesses and today the company announced its latest venture aimed at increasing IT skills training in the UK.
During an event in London, the company announced its new training and job placement program, re:Start. Amazon's new service, that was built in partnership with the UK's Ministry of Defense, the Prince's Trust and QA consulting, is geared toward educating young adults and military veterans and their wives.
Linux Mint 18.1 'Serena' KDE Edition Beta is available for download now
A Beta release for Linux Mint 18.1 'Serena' KDE is here. There are already versions available featuring other desktop environments, such as Cinnamon, Mate, and Xfce. You'd think that would be enough, but no! Apparently a fourth edition is needed. Some people feel that a KDE version is a waste of resources, but either way, here we are.
So what is new? The KDE Plasma 5.8 desktop environment is the star of the show -- after all, if you do not want KDE, you wouldn't choose this version. The shipping Linux kernel is 4.4.0-53, which is surprisingly outdated. Ubuntu-based operating systems are never known for being bleeding-edge, however.
Spotify is the top-grossing iOS app, Line takes first spot on Google Play
There are lots of really successful paid apps, but which one generates the most net revenue? According to a Sensor Tower report, Spotify comes out on top overall in 2016. The music streaming service only led the pack on the App Store, but that was enough to push it all the way to the top. On Google Play, it was messaging service Line which took top honors in this category.
Line actually came second overall, and in third place on the App Store. It is interesting that Spotify managed to come out ahead despite the fact that it is nowhere to be found in the top ten grossing apps on Google Play. This suggests that iOS users spent far more than Google Play users did on Spotify subscriptions.
Even ransomware stops for Christmas
An 81 percent drop recorded in Locky ransomware infections in December is thought to be down to the cyber criminals behind the malware taking a Christmas break.
Threat prevention company Check Point recorded the big drop in Locky infections as part of an eight percent overall decrease in the number of recognized malware attacks on organizations in December.
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